Sharing your France photos and info
I’m much too busy watching the Tour de France to know much else that’s happening in the world so instead I’ll issue a plea for help while everyone is in a holiday mood. Although me and Mrs B spend as much time travelling around France enjoying ourselves and calling it work as possible it is [...]
What do you take on holiday
July is upon us and it’s nearly time to start packing for the car for your annual fortnight in the sun (I’m assuming you are coming to France!) so our friends at Buggs Car Hire suggested we think about what people should bring with them to be sure their trip isn’t a complete disaster. If [...]
Driving habits in France
They tell me that more people than ever will be coming to France this summer so I thought a quick reminder of driving habits in France would be useful. Happily lots of drivers fall into one sterotype or another so it’s quite easy to know what to look out for…
Five reasons to visit France for your 2011 holiday
I’ve spoken to a couple of large holiday type companies recently and they both told me that bookings for holidays in France are ‘slow’ this year, at least among the Brits. I’m pretty sure they said they same last year, but this year they are saying it in a more desperate way! So it’s time [...]
Heading for the Far East?
Each spring and autumn Mrs B and I try to get away (separately, because someone has to stay home and drive the children around). The purpose of these trips is either (1) to research interesting travel destinations in France for our website visitors or (2) because living and working together 24 hours a day all [...]
Going on holiday
Even living here in south-west France we need to get away exploring from time to time – so we’ve just been on a family holiday…but where? From the pictures below you get 1 point for country, and three points for town! Hint: the pictures haven’t necessarily been chosen because they are most helpful or representative [...]
A Sleeping Beauty Tale
Someone told me about a very unusual ‘tourist attraction’ that has recently been opened in France – or perhaps I should say discovered – and the story is so interesting I thought I’d share it… The story begins in 1893, when a Frenchman called Louis Mantin inherited a fortune from his father. He promptly gave [...]
Will Biarritz be empty next year?
I’m always interested to see which places and regions in France people are planning to visit in France in the months to come, partly because it gives me at least a clue which areas we should be visiting ourselves – there’s no point us spending weeks exploring and writing about the Pyrenees if everyone else [...]
Choosing a travel destination
Because of having gites we can’t get away in the summer like ‘normal’ people, so we have to travel out of season. End of year school exams further complicate things, so this year we ended up taking our ‘family holiday’ in New York in February – and a good time was had by all, despite [...]
Paris, we have a problem!
Paris – or more specifically Parisians – don’t always have the reputation as being the most welcoming people in the world and even most other areas of France consider that Parisians think themselves ‘superior’ to the rest of France. Since the city itself is so attractive it manages to attract millions of visitors despite the [...]
Last Saturday in August
The last Saturday in August is a strange day when you live somewhere popular with tourists. It is the day when the towns start to regain their ‘normal’ personalities, the roads become quieter, and the numerous events, fairs, medieval days and street parties that carry on through the summer come to an abrupt end. This [...]
Wanted – intellectual holidaymakers
During the summer months a lot of towns in France spring into life with festivals, night markets, and various events laid on to amuse both locals and visitors alike. One popular idea both near us and in several other places in France is ‘medieval re-enactments’ where everyone in the town dresses up in ‘olden-days’ costumes, [...]
Video of France
Too much doom and gloom with all this talk of farming in crisis and Brits who can’t afford to go on holiday, or expats who have to drive thousands of miles to buy their croissants in Tesco? We have the antidote! I’ve mostly given up looking at videos of France on the internet because there [...]
Stay at home Brits
Things must be tough in Britain at the moment – it was reported that in 2009 the number of foreign trips taken was down 15% on 2008 (worldwide, not just to France which ‘only’ suffered a 10% drop) and seven million people from the UK decided to forego their annual holiday. (Previously the biggest drop [...]
Places in France, June 2010
Last month I posted photos of some lovely places in France but completely neglected French villages, curious because I spend more time exploring villages than big towns. Time to put things right. It’s a tough choice – I tend to always visit classified ‘most beautiful villages’ when I visit somewhere, but there are lots of [...]
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